I wanted to let you know about a very interesting and rewarding opportunity that I have found for some real world medical experience. As a Junior studying Global Environmental Change and Sustainability, I am always looking for opportunities to put to use all of the hard work and knowledge gained from my education at Johns Hopkins University. I am lucky enough to be participating in a great opportunity with a student organization on my campus that enables me to help others while further developing my own skills in health services. On this service trip I have the chance to personally work with under-resourced communities in Honduras to provide them with free health care.
This January, I will be traveling with a group of eleven other students from Johns Hopkins to Honduras with an organization called Global Medical Brigades. Global Medical Brigades is part of the world’s largest student-led health and sustainable development organization called Global Brigades. Each year Global Brigades mobilizes thousands of university students around the world to participate in 9 different skills-based programs to improve the quality of life in under-resourced communities.
Honduras is cited by the World Bank as the 3rd poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti and Nicaragua and has been designated as a priority country by the Pan American Health organization/WHO Strategic Plan. The basic needs of education, health care, and clean water are luxuries for the majority of the people there, and in the rural communities where we will be working, these luxuries are even harder to find. It is highly common for a family of four to live on less than $2.00 a day with less than 3 gallons of water per day available for use.
On my upcoming brigade, I will be working hand-in-hand with doctors and community members. Johns Hopkins has had a brigade travel to Honduras for the past five years, and we want to continue to build this tradition. Over the past few years we have helped at least 3,000 people with everything from receiving daily multivitamins to giving life-saving medications to patients young and old. Yet this is still barely scratching the surface of what we can do and we are working hard to bring even more aid to those who need it most.
This is an important trip to me because I will be able to help people in need and experience what it is like to do so in an area of the world that is completely new to me. In the future, I plan on working in different environments with people holding differing value sets, and with new and interesting lives and cultures to share. Global Brigades allows each and every member in my Medical Brigade group to make a life-changing impact with the rural Honduran community.
Please join me in supporting the work that I will be doing in the underserved communities in Honduras. Any support you can give will make a tremendous difference. As a donor you are contributing to the sustainability of the Medical Brigades’ work in the communities we are working with. To make a donation please visit my fundraising page. http://www.empowered.org/andreacarrassi. This site is completely secure and all donations are tax-deductible. After you make a donation, you will automatically be emailed a tax receipt. Please let me know if you have any questions about my trip. I sincerely appreciate all of your positive thoughts and support!
Sincerely,
Andrea Carrassi